| Mapping Toolbox | |
Introduction to Mapping Graphics
One of the fundamental concepts underlying the Mapping Toolbox is the idea that maps are variables that exist independently of their display. However, for visual geographic data analysis, application development, and presentation of results, quality display capabilities are a must.
With the Mapping Toolbox, you can display geographic information almost as easily as you can plot regular data in MATLAB. Most mapping commands are similar to MATLAB commands, except they deal with latitude and longitude spherical coordinates instead of x and y Cartesian coordinates. Mapping commands typically have the same names as their MATLAB counterparts, with the addition of an 'm', for maps, at the end. For example, the Mapping Toolbox analog to MATLAB's plot command is plotm.
The Mapping Toolbox manages most of the steps in displaying a map. It will project your data, cut and trim it to desired limits, and display the resulting map for you. The toolbox also provides the means to add other elements to your displayed map, such as a frame, gridlines, coordinate labels, and text labels. If you change your projection properties, or even the projection itself, the Mapping Toolbox will redraw the map with the new settings, undoing any cuts or trims if necessary. See Map Projections for information on how to project data without displaying it.
The toolbox also makes it easy to modify and manipulate maps. The map display and mapped objects can be modified either from the command line or through graphical user interfaces and property editing tools that can be invoked by clicking on the display. Most mapping display commands have graphical interfaces. See GUI Tools for more on these capabilities.
| | General Matrix Maps | Map Displays Made Easy | |